Thursday, April 19, 2012

Paulo Branco, Cosmopolis' Producer, talked about the movie, Cannes and the Portuguese Premiere with Rob, Cronenberg and DeLillo (we posted about that here).

Interview is in portuguese, check the translation under the video

Translation - thanks to Deb and Bee for helping me translate the interview

I: Paulo, good evening. This is the 11th movie that you produce and has been selected to the competition in Cannes - the most important film festival in Europe. From what we saw in the trailer and from the little we know, this is not an European movie. Is this your most important movie?PB: Well, as a producer I like to think all movies are important, but this one is special, of course. It's a movie where, for the first time, I worked the way they do on the other side of the Atlantic. It was filmed in Toronto with one of the best directors in the world, David Cronenberg, that was kind enough to listen and accept my proposal, and with great Hollywood actors. And it's the first time I work on a movie this big and with this budget.

I: We're talking about a major production?PB: We're talking about a medium American production, about 15M Euros. A French-Canadian movie. We had as much support from France as from Canada. Although, it is a budget that indie producers are not used to, especially with the freedom I had to produce this movie: choosing the director, David Cronenberg, and the actors (along with Cronenberg). It was an unique experience. I am proud (for the movie) to be in Cannes now; to be aknowledged. Every movie in Cannes, in competition, they're not just “another movie”. It's always something special, someone who has been and follows the festival, can understand.

I: The cast and crew of this movie is impressive. Famous director, David Cronenberg. The main actors are, I should say, even more famous (Juliette Binoche and Robert Pattinson, from the Twilight Saga). I want to know if there's anything planned for the release of the movie in Portugal in May with them?PB: Precisely. It was created some sort of empathy with Don de Lillo, David Cronenberg and Robert Pattinson, that since the beginning, when I talked about the idea of doing a small promo tour in Europe to promote the movie, starting in Portugal, they immediately accepted. They'll be here right after Cannes for the Portuguese premiere of the movie. I think it's an unique event, for a movie premiere, in Portugal. And an example of professionalism and devotion from the people that worked in this film. For Pattinson, this project is essential. He watched the movie and personally told me that it was, maybe, the project that he was most proud of and wanted to support it wherever it was necessary. Don DeLillo, one of the biggest writers in the world, when saw the movie... (Interviewer interrupts Paulo Branco)

The last question is hard to understand, Paulo Branco talks about Cannes, promoting and selling movies at the festival.